Method of and apparatus for treating meat, more particularly ham meat

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for treating meat. In the method, meat is tenderized, brought into contact with pickle or brine or the like, and massaged, characterized in that the meat is brought into a tumbling movement together with a pickle or brine bath, in such a manner that massaging forces are exerted on the meat by the action of gravity, while at the same time, also by the action of gravity on the meat, a number of nicking means guiding brine out of the bath is repeatedly introduced into the meat and removed therefrom. The apparatus comprises a tank having a support means adapted to move over a floor, an opening, a cover fitting over the opening and adapted to be coupled to the tank in sealing-tight relationship, and means for coupling the tank to a drive means for rotating the tank, characterized in that the tank is provided, at least at one wall part extending perpendicularly with respect to the plane of rotation of the tank, with a number of nicking means provided with longitudinal guides for the brine, said means projecting inwardly and at least substantially vertically with respect to said wall part.

This invention relates to a method of treating meat, more particularlyham meat, in which the meat is tenderized, brought into contact withbrine or pickling agents, and massaged.

Treatment of this kind which was hitherto carried out in the form of asuccession of a number of partial treatments, is intended to prepare themeat for pasteurization after it has been pressed into a moulddetermining the final shape of the end product, while retaining themaximum percentage and maximum uniformity of distribution of the juicesin the meat.

Although the invention is aimed at bringing the meat into a state suchthat pasteurization can be carried out under optimum conditions withminimum juice losses, the method of treatment according to the inventiondoes not include pressing in a mould and pasteurization of the meat,which operations can be carried out in any arbitrary suitable manner.The treatment according to the invention comprises solely thetenderizing, pickling and massaging of the meat.

Pickling of the meat is intended to improve its taste and keepingproperties. The massaging of the meat, which can be carried out afterprior injection of pickle or brine or the like into the meat or in apickling bath, is intended so to open the surface proteins of the meatthat the pickle or brine or the like absorbed by the meat and otherjuices are more satisfactorily retained, so that the juice losses duringthe subsequent pasteurization treatment are kept at a minimum.Tenderizing of the meat, which was hitherto carried out as a firstpartial treatment, comprises nicking or opening the meat so that thesurface via which the meat comes into contact with the brine or picklingbath, and the subsequent massage of the meat is operative, is made aslarge as possible.

Massaging of the meat is usually effected in a rotating tank in whichthe meat undergoes a massaging or kneading movement during rotation.Pickling of the meat can be carried out by prior injection with brine orpickling agents under pressure, i.e. as a separate partial treatment,which requires time and labour for carrying out the injection and fortransporting the meat. Pickling may also take place during the massagingtreatment; the above-mentioned rotating tank is then filled with apickling bath in addition to the meat for treatment. In this latter casein particular, it is advisable to subject the meat to a tenderizingoperation for which purpose the meat is taken through a device whichnicks the meat at a number of points so that a larger operative meatsurface is obtained for pickling and massage. This tenderizing operationalso requires time and labour for its performance and for transportationof the meat.

SUMMARY

The object of the invention is to reduce the time and, moreparticularly, the labour required to carry out the above-describedsuccession of partial treatments, i.e. tenderizing, pickling andmassaging of the meat, and provide a combined method such that notime-consuming meat transport requiring to be carried out or controlledby separate labour is necessary between the successive partialtreatments.

To this end, according to the invention, the meat is brought intomovement together with a pickle or brine bath, in such a manner thatmassaging forces are exerted on the meat by the action of gravity, whileat the same time, also by the action of gravity on the meat, a number ofnicking means guiding brine out of the bath is repeatedly introducedinto the meat and removed therefrom.

A first advantage of this step is that both the purchase and use of aseparate tenderizing or pickle or brine injection device can be avoided.Separate labour, i.e. physical exertion and/or supervision by anoperative to operate such a device and for transporting the meat fromsuch a device to the massaging tank, is unnecessary. A second advantageis that a much longer-lasting and more intensive penetration of thebrine or the like in the meat and hence a greater effect of themassaging treatment are obtained, and this reduces the juice lossesoccurring on subsequent pasteurization. Apart from a saving intransportation time, this improved quality is also accompanied by areduction of the treatment time.

Although it is possible, according to the invention, to drive thenicking means into the meat which is pressed by gravity against a wallpart of the tank, it is preferable for the meat first to drop on to thenicking means and then drop and/or be pushed off the same.

The invention also provides a special apparatus for the new method. Thisapparatus is derived from a standard apparatus for massaging meat,consisting of a tank having a support means movable over a floor, anopening, a cover fitting over the opening and adapted to be coupled insealing-tight relationship to the tank, and with means for coupling thetank to the drive means for rotating the tank. The said drive means may,for example, be of the type described in Applicant's U.S. Pat. Spec. No.3,746,316. According to the invention, a tank of this kind should be soconstructed that the tank is provided, at least at one wall partextending perpendicularly with respect to the plane of rotation of thetank, with a number of nicking means provided with longitudinal guidesfor the brine, said means projecting inwardly and at least substantiallyvertically with respect to said wall part. In such an apparatus, duringthe rotary movement of the tank the meat drops regularly on to thenicking means which, as a result of the weight of the meat, penetratethe same to the required depth and feed the brine or the like into thenicks via the longitudinal guides or slots, before the meat drops offthe nicking means.

To ensure that the meat drops on to said means in the correct directionas far as possible, i.e. the longitudinal direction of the nickingmeans, according to the invention, conveniently, the tank comprises anumber of wall parts which extend over some distance at leastsubstantially vertically with respect to the wall part provided with thenicking means. This avoids any loading in the transverse direction ofthe nicking means by the meat as far as possible. This effect is readilyachieved according to the invention if the tank has a cylindrical body,one end wall part of which acts as bearer element for the nicking meansor is coupled thereto. In a preferred embodiment of the tank, the tankcomprises a set of two cylindrical bodies, the cylinder axes of whichextend at least substantially vertically with respect to one another.The dropping of the meat, i.e. the falling of the meat from the nickingmeans, can be improved according to the invention by the use of aperforated sliding plate, the perforations of which enclose the nickingmeans and whose side adjacent the said wall part is coupled to a driverod which extends through said wall part and which, during the rotarymovement of the tank, moves inwardly of the tank by means of a stopsituated outside the tank. In that case, the meat does not simply dropfrom the nicking means but is also pushed off the same.

The nicking means may be made from strips of sheet metal which arestiffened against buckling loads and which are provided with alongitudinal guide for the brine or the like. According to theinvention, however, it is preferable if the nicking means are formed bya set of pointed pins which, over at least a part of their length, havea slot for guiding brine at their periphery. In order to ensure that thepin longitudinal brine guide is not completely filled by the surroundingmeat, which would reduce the introduction of brine into the meat, theinvention also proposes that the slot extends from a fixing end intendedfor fixing to a wall part or a bearer element coupled thereto to somedistance from the pointed free end of a pin. The opening formed by sucha pin in the meat then has a cross-section such that the slot in the pinis not completely filled by meat and can guide the brine or the like.

Although the pins can be secured to the associated wall part of the tankor to a bearer element coupled to the wall part, in any arbitrary way,for example by welding, interchangeability of the pins according to theinvention is promoted if the fixing end of a pin is provided withexternal screwthreading by means of which the pin can be screwed inbores in the associated wall part or the bearer element coupled thereto.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention will be explained in the following description withreference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a number ofembodiments, to which the invention is not limited however. In thedrawing:

FIG. 1 is an axial section through a first embodiment of a treatmenttank according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation in partial section, showing a secondembodiment of a treatment tank according to the invention coupled to adrive means, which is shown only diagrammatically, to rotate thetreatment tank.

FIG. 3 is also a diagrammatic view of the drive means and the tankaccording to FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a detail to an enlarged scale on the arrow IV in FIG. 2 and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through a pin on the line V--V in FIG. 4.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises atreatment tank 1 with a cover 2 which, in the present embodiment, itselfhas a considerable capacity and is provided with a support in the formof a set of three rollers 3 by means of which the cover can be movedover a floor (not shown in FIG. 1). The tank 1 is coupled to the cover 2by means of coupling means (not shown) along the flanges 4 and 5 of thetank 1 and the cover 2 respectively. Since the main feature of theinvention resides in the integer 1 and not in the integer 2, theseintegers are referred to respectively as "tank" and "cover" within thepresent invention, but it is clear that this designation is relativelyarbitrary.

A shaft 6 is secured to the tank 1 for coupling to a drive means (notshown in FIG. 1). The shaft 6 is formed with a bore 7 which connects theinterior of the tank 1 to a vacuum pump (not shown).

According to the invention, the right-hand side of the tank in FIG. 1 isprovided with a bearer element 8 which in practice operates as theinnermost wall part of the tank at that point and which is secured tothe tank inner wall, a number of pins 9 which extend in parallel andalong the tank axis projecting from the said bearer element 8 and actingas nicking means. As will be apparent in greater detail from FIG. 4, thefree end of the pins is formed with a point 10 and they are formed witha slot 11 over a considerable part of their length, the function of saidslot being described hereinafter, and the pins having a fixing end 12provided with external screwthreading by means of which they are screwedin a matching internally screwthreaded bore 13 in the bearer element 8.The pins may be secured to the bearer element 8 in any other suitablemanner, for example by welding. In principle it is possible to dispensewith a separate bearer element 8, in which case the pins 9 are secureddirectly to the right-hand wall end part of the tank 1.

The tank 1 also comprises a perforate sliding plate 14, whoseperforations 15 enclose the pins 9 and whose side facing the bearerelement 8 or the right-hand end wall part of the tank 1 is coupled to adrive rod 16 which extends through said wall part and which has athickened head 17 at its free end. The drive rod 16 passes insealing-tight relationship through a sleeve 18 which is provided at thesaid right-hand end wall part and the details of which will not bedescribed more fully here. As will be apparent from FIG. 2, the driverod 16 is moved uniformly towards the interior of the tank during therotation thereof, said movement being limited by a stop 19 which isdisposed on the drive rod 16 and which cannot pass the sleeve 18.

In the position shown in FIG. 1, the sliding plate 14 is situated nearthe points 10 of the pins 9, i.e. near the bearer element. On the saidinward movement of the drive rod 16, the sliding plate 14 coupledthereto is also moved towards the interior of the tank 1, and any meatstuck on the pins 9 is pushed off the pins by the sliding plate 14, theperforations 15 of which surround the pins 9.

Before the operation of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1is explained, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will first bedescribed, the operation of this embodiment corresponding in principleto the embodiment already described hereinbefore.

The tank 20 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 comprises two cylindrical hollowbodies 21 each of which may be compared to the tank 1 according to FIG.1, but which extend with their centre-lines at an angle of at leastapproximately 90° to one another and which are combined to form one tank20 by welding. The tank 20 comprises a cover 22 with rollers 23, all ofwhich are in conformity with cover 2 and the rollers 3 according to FIG.1, and the same applies to the flange 24 which can be coupled insealing-tight relationship to the flange 25 of the tank 20, although theway in which this is done is not shown in the drawings. The member 20comprises a shaft 26 for coupling to the drive means 43 showndiagrammatically, while the shaft 26 is formed with an axial bore 27 forconnecting the interior of the tank 20 to a vacuum pump (not shown).

Each of the cylindrical members 21 is provided with a bearer element 28having a number of pins 29 extending in parallel relationship to oneanother and along the axis of the associated member 21, each such pinhaving a point 30, slot 31 and fixing end 32 by means of which they arescrewed into bores 33 in the bearer element 28. Each of the cylindricalmembers 21 also has a sliding plate 34 at its outer end, withperforations 35 which surround the pins 29, while the other end has adrive rod 36 with a head 37 at its free end and extending through thewall end part through a guide sleeve 38. A stop on the drive rod 36limited the movement thereof.

Both the constructional and operational details of the above-describedcomponents or members 21- 39 are identical to those of the components orelements 1- 19 in FIG. 1 and are therefore not described in any greaterdetail.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the end wall parts of thecylindrical members 21 are constructed as separate covers 40 which canpivot with respect to their associated member 21 by means of a hingeconstruction 41 (see FIG. 2) and which can be coupled to the member 21in sealing-tight relationship through the agency of coupling means 42 ofconventional type. This step, which is not shown in, but which can beapplied to, the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has the advantage that thebearer element 28 (8) and the sliding plate 34 (14) are more readilyaccessible for cleaning and maintenance.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is illustrated in the position inwhich the tank 20 is coupled to a drive means 43 which can lift a tank20 bearing by rollers 23 of cover 22 on the floor 44 (or, referring toFIG. 1, a tank 1 resting on floor 44 via the rollers 3 of cover 2), caneffect coupling to shaft 26 or 6, and then drive the tank with a rotarymovement according to the broken-line arrow in FIG. 2. The drive means43 does not itself form part of the invention and may be of any suitabletype, for example the type described in Applicants' laid-open DutchPatent Application No. 70.08822, or the substantially corresponding U.S.Pat. No. 3,734,316 of 17th July 1973, the rights in which also accrue toApplicants. We shall not describe the construction and operation of thedrive means 43 here but would refer to the above-mentioned publications.The drive means 43 which is used in this invention and which rests onthe floor 44 should comprise a fixed and possibly adjustable cam ridge45. During the rotary movement of the container according to the arrowshown in FIG. 2, the head 37 or 17 of the drive rod 36 or 16 meets thiscam ridge so that the drive rod is moved inwardly of the tank so thatthe sliding plate 34 or 14 is also moved inwardly of the tank so thatany meat 46 stuck on the pins 29 or 9 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) is pushed offthe same.

FIG. 4 is a detail on the line IV in FIG. 2.

The pins 29 (9) are screwed on the bearer element 28 (8) at their fixingends 32 (12) by means of nuts 47, and they extend through bores 33 (13)in the bearer element. The sliding plate 34 (14), the perforations 35(15) of which surround the pins 29 (9) with some clearance, bearsagainst the element 28 (8). At its side remote from the points 30 (10)of the pins, the sliding plate 34 (14) is welded to a drive rod 36 (16)for axial displacement of the sliding plate along the pins. When thedrive rod head 37 (17) comes into contact with the said cam ridge 45 ofthe drive means 43 during rotary movement of the tank, the drive rodtogether with the sliding plate is moved inwardly, and any meat 46 lefton the pins 29 (9) is pushed off the same.

As will be apparent from FIGS. 4 and 5, the pins 29 (9) are formed witha slot (31) (11) over a considerable part of their length, said slotsextending from near the fixing end 32 (12) of a pin to some distancefrom its point 30 (10). The latter makes in the meat 46 an opening whichis of substantially circular cross-section so that the slot 31 (11) isnot completely filled by penetrating meat and can ensure that brine isintroduced into the meat.

Following the above description of the construction of the tankaccording to the invention, the practical operation of the inventionwill now be explained.

It will be assumed that a reservoir filled with a quantity of meat 46for treatment, for example ham meat, in the form of a cover 2 (22)bearing by its rollers 3 (23) on the floor 44 is driven to a positionbeneath the tank 1 (20), which is already coupled to the drive means 43.The tank 1 (20) is then coupled by the drive means 43 to the tank 2 (22)in manner not described in detail, whereupon the complete system israised into its operating position shown in FIG. 2 and rotated. Thereservoir 2 (22) is also filled with a brine or pickling bath (not shownin the drawing) in addition to the meat 46 for treatment. During therotation of the unit comprising a reservoir 2 (22) and a tank 1 (20) bymeans of the drive system 43, the meat 46 and the brine are moved bygravity alternately from the reservoir 2 (22) into the container 1, i.e.first one and then the other cylindrical member 21, and during thisprocess the meat drops practically vertically on to the bearer element 8(28) provided with the pins 9 (29) as a result of the cylindrical shapeof the container 1, so that the pins penetrate the meat 46. The liquidbrine is fed via the slots 11 (31) into the openings formed in the meat.As the rotary movement continues, the meat 46 starts to slide off thepins 9 (29) while the sliding plate 14 (34), which is driven asdescribed by the drive rod 16 (36), assists this movement and pushes themeat off the pins. As soon as the meat 46 has been released from thepins, it undergoes a kneading and massaging treatment from the wallparts of the tank and reservoir and also under the influence of its ownweight, so that the surface proteins of the meat are opened. As a resultof the invention this effect takes place not just at the outer surfaceof the meat but also along the walls of the openings formed by the pinspenetrating the meat. The pins 9 (29) therefore always exert atenderizing effect on the meat 46 and this is continued during theentire treatment in the tank 1 (20). The effect of this combination oftenderizing, pickling and massaging as provided by the invention is thatthere is a continuous succession of the said partial treatments withoutany separate time or labour being required for transporting the meatbetween the various partial treatments.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, during the treatment accordingto the invention the meat is subjected to a continuous succession oftenderizing, brine introduction and massage, so that the surfaceproteins of the meat are opened over a very large effective surface. Asalready stated, this is very important for subsequent pasteurization towhich the meat should be subjected. It is well known that when thesurface proteins of the meat are opened a sealing film forms at the saidsurface and prevents any appreciable loss of juice during thepasteurization treatment. It will be apparent that when the invention isapplied, with the meat being subjected to a continuous session oftenderizing (by pins 9, 29), brine introduction (at the outer surface ofthe meat and via the slots (11, 31 in the pins) and massage (by theinner wall parts of the tank 1 (20), and the reservoir 2, (22), there isa very effective contribution towards opening the meat surface proteinswithout any separate tenderizing, brine injection and massage beingnecessary for the meat. This means a saving in investments costs, sinceno separate tenderizer and/or brine injector need be used, while inaddition there is a saving of treatment time and transport of meatbetween successive partial treatments. The use of gravity fortenderizing can also be regarded as an extra energy economy; of courseit is also possible to use moving pins 9, 29. Finally, the nicking meansneed not be constructed in the form of pins, and other nicking meanssuitably shaped and provided with a guide for the brine may be used.

What I claim is:
 1. In a process of curing meat in a rotary tumblingdevice having a closed tumbling chamber partly filled with a bath ofcuring fluid comprising pickling fluid, the steps of repeatedly:a.massaging the meat by tumbling the meat in and out of said bath withinsaid chamber in response to rotation of said chamber, and thereafter; b.simultaneously tenderizing and curing the meat by rotating the tumblingdevice to cause the meat to fall downwardly under the influence ofgravity randomly oriented into the bath and onto a plurality ofpenetrating means located within said chamber and extending upwardly tobe penetrated by the said means and thus tenderized, the meat absorbingthe curing fluid from the bath and being thus cured, and thereafter; c.removing said meat from said penetrating means as said tumbling deviceis rotated, and alternately repeating the cycle of massaging andsimultaneous tenderizing and curing while catching and mixing the juicesescaping from the meat with said bath.
 2. A process as claimed in claim1 wherein curing fluid is admitted to the penetrating means from saidbath of curing fluid during the rotation of the portion of the tumblingchamber in which the penetrating means is located through the lowersegment of its arc of rotation, before the meat falls onto thepenetrating means to be penetrated thereby.